Introduction
During the summer of 2024, the Living Future Community Council proposed the idea of a learning series to the Passive House Community Council and the staff of Green Building United as a collaborative project that would use an ongoing high-performance rowhouse renovation as a platform to explore alignments between the new Phius REVIVE standard and the Living Future CORE program. Nine months later, the six-part Demonstration Learning Series (“DLS”) wrapped up having explored Crosswalks identifying Existing Alignments between the two distinct programs and developed possible Future Alignments that can enrich both programs. The Communities found opportunities for strategic integration between Phius REVIVE 2024 and Living Future CORE certifications that can allow renovation projects to achieve a comprehensive approach to sustainability that address both retrofit-specific challenges and broader green building practices.
Phius REVIVE 2024 is a retrofit– focused standard that prioritizes decarbonization (operational and
embodied), resilience to climate and grid disruptions, indoor air quality, and occupant health. The new standard uses REVIVEcalc, built upon the EnergyPlus energy model and BEAM carbon calculator, to examine the life cycle cost, resilience, and energy performance of different retrofit packages via the Annualized Decarbonization of Retrofitted Building (ADORB) life cycle cost projection. REVIVEcalc will assess and deliver the most cost-effective, resilient, and low-carbon outcomes, with a particular focus on the practicalities and constraints of existing buildings. REVIVE represents a significant departure from Phius’ other programs using the language and evaluation of Carbon as the basis of decision making. This fundamental shift in focus centers on decarbonization, resilience, and human health while delivering Passive House building performance.
LF Core provides a holistic, performance-based green building framework that is applicable to a variety of project types, including renovations. It emphasizes ten essential imperatives to shift towards regenerative buildings with a balance of environmental, social, and experiential requirements that are designed to be widely accessible. CORE serves as a foundation for more ambitious certifications within the Living Building Challenge ecosystem.
A High-Performance Rowhouse Renovation Case Study, the Cross Street Passive House
The DLS examined an existing home requiring extensive renovation, the Cross Street Passive House, as a means of exploring how Phius REVIVE and Living Future CORE can be applied. Paul Thompson, BluPath, is on board as the Architect and supported the Series.
More on the project:
- The Cross Street Passive House provides a real-life and real-time case study of how standards can be applied and implemented in a project seeking certifications.
- The project is pursuing Phius REVIVE, and is considering LEED for Homes.
- The project is a 984sf, 2-Story brick rowhouse, built ca.1910 with a rear kitchen addition, plus other changes ca. 1950. The home was fire damaged in May 2023,causing it to be completely gutted. The home faces south on a 16ft wide and 48-6 deep lot.
- The renovation is being designed under Philadelphia building code = 2018 IRC.
- There is a proposed third floor addition with a walk-out deck adding 270sf.
The project design is guided by the following key sustainability values:
- All electric equipment with no combustion appliances with continuous HEPA filtered fresh air through an ERV system
- Foam-free construction with wood fiber insulation where possible
- Preservation of the existing brick finish, masonry and wood structure where possible while adding a third floor with walk-out roof deck to provide usable outdoor space.
The Crosswalks
During the six-part DLS’ throughout evaluation of the CORE and REVIVE programs, the Communities identified Existing Alignments and possible Future Alignments between the two programs that will enable efficient and cost-effective concurrent certifications of renovation projects. Attendees engaged the Carbon conversation through a Crosswalk analysis, a topical lecture, a project update, and a hands-on, small group workshop, analyzing the Cross Street Passive House through one of four lenses: materials, active energy, passive energy, and water.
What’s Next
Phius and Living Future were active participants in the 6-part DLS and for that the Communities and Green Building United are grateful. Both organizations provided grounding in their programs and a peek of what us to come in the future. For LF: an expansion of its Zero Carbon rating structure to existing assets (renovations) with a pilot opening in summer 2025 and an openness to use the Phius ADORB model as the energy model for CORE projects. For Phius: there was a recognition that the focus on Carbon Emissions, both embodied and operational, is new territory and that REVIVE is a new program that will benefit from projects to engaging in the certification process. Phius plans on providing more resources and fine– tuning the model tools. It is apparent that Passive House practitioners should hone their Carbon Emissions accounting skills to stay current with Phius and to identify synergies with multiple certification programs for their projects.
Conclusion
We found that REVIVE broadens Phius’ focus beyond the building envelope and energy performance, and that the language of Carbon Emissions and reducing global climate change becomes a means of communication across platforms enabling crosswalks and synergies between them. Taking a liberty to extrapolate, we envision using this common language will allow identification of Crosswalks between other certification programs including LEEDv5 and WELL, which can lead to more robust designs and efficient, resilient operations, more facile networking between the organizations, and a strengthening as a whole of the high-performance building industry. An integrated approach not only enhances environmental performance but also supports occupant health, resilience, and community well-being.
Stay tuned for a final report from Community organizers detailing findings, exercises, resources and more!